The trade also reports that the network is hoping Fincher will return to finish "Videosyncrazy" (four episodes have been shot), but plans to make "Utopia" without him. Last month, Casey Affleck revealed that HBO has called for rewrites for "Lewis And Clark," which likely means that the show will be starting over from scratch. As for "Westworld," there are rumors that Nolan is clashing with the network, and while there were hopes the series would be finished in time to debut this year, 2017 is looking more likely.

"Westworld’ is wildly ambitious —on the page and on set," Nolan told THR. "In broadcast TV, it’s been routine for us to write and shoot at the same time. This is a completely different animal. As we got closer to the final episodes, we realized we needed to take a break from shooting to catch up on writing. HBO and WBTV have been incredibly supportive throughout the process. It would have been literally impossible to make this show anywhere else."

And while this is hardly the first time HBO has scrapped a project with big names (see Noah Baumbach‘s "The Corrections") or retooled a show (the pilot of "Game Of Thrones" was famously reshot at great expense), the stakes are high: the network accounted for nearly one-third of Time Warner‘s profits in 2015.

This could all just be symptomatic of HBO going through a tough transition, with drama head Michael Ellenberg leaving the company last month. But let’s hope they manage to ride through these times and get back on track.

Comments

Terrible news, what’s going on at HBO? It feels like a dissembling, if you’ve got a Fincher & a McQueen you let them lead. It’s interesting you bring up The Corrections, for me that was the moment HBO dropped the ball – or more like lost their balls – I haven’t followed anything they’ve bought out since, Vinyl, which I was interested in, sounds terrible and is performing just as badly. Feels like maybe they’ve become too business orientated, too mathematical in their decision making when today’s small screen climate is looking for something more innovative, which means artist led rather than statistics based.